Jonathan Bush is back for another act. On Thursday, the founder and former chief executive officer of medical IT giant athenahealth launched a new startup called Zus.
The company, which debuted with $34 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Rock Health and other venture firms, wants to become the common layer digital health companies use to build their tools, view health records, and ultimately treat patients. Zus launches at a pivotal moment for digital health after the recent passage of the federal information blocking rule, which gives patients unprecedented access to health data via apps.
Bush hopes to capitalize on this changed landscape by giving digital health startups an easy-to-use platform for crafting and honing their offerings. Then, with enough market share (how much is enough remains to be determined), it will create a shared patient health record platform that enables digital health companies to coordinate patient care. As part of the launch, startups including Cityblock Health, Dorsata, Firefly Health, and Oak Street Health — among others — have agreed to work with Zus as early adopters. The companies get expert support as they work to build “reference apps,” or templates for future startups that allow them to build homegrown offerings such as video or text chatting or a prescription filing tool.
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